


First Comes Friendship, Then Comes Love

by ConjuringWords



Series: For Your Love, I'm Fighting [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anxious Harry, Best Friends, Developing Friendships, Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter Friendship, Established Relationship, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Harry Potter is Bad at Feelings, Hermione Granger is a Good Friend, M/M, Nervous Harry, Not Canon Compliant, Not Epilogue Compliant, Past Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Past Relationship(s), Platonic Relationships, Post-Hogwarts, Post-War, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley is a Good Friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:55:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23173519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConjuringWords/pseuds/ConjuringWords
Summary: Harry and Draco have been friends for months now, since the Ministry Gala. Now Harry has decided to tell his best friends about his newfound friendship. And if he's keeping his burgeoning romantic feelings for the blonde to himself? Well that's his business. And he figures it will be easier to take a relationship between he and Draco if comes to that if his friends know he's friends with Draco first. Of course Hermione is clever and knows things. Ron is oblivious. For now. This takes place about six months or so after the events of 'So Wrong' but before 'First Date'.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Series: For Your Love, I'm Fighting [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1642594
Comments: 2
Kudos: 81





	1. Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> I am SO sorry it's taken me so long to post more to this series! Life and worry about this new virus and another fic have taken over lately. I had started to write this but then made the mistake of looking an old thing I wrote and ideas kind of exploded in my head to add to that and I got lost writing that for a bit. Came back to this finally and have this first chapter written and most of the second. This will be a two chapter fic. As always your thoughts, comments, and kudos are always appreciated. Hope you all are staying safe out there!

“So you’re friends with _Malfoy_ ?” Ron Weasley burst out one late Saturday evening in late September. Again. Ron had said it at least three times in the last few minutes by Harry’s count. He sighed. Harry had come to Ron and Hermione’s for dinner like he usually did on the weekends when he wasn’t on a case. He’d been a bit nervous about tonight because he’d decided to tell them he had become friends with Draco all those months ago at the Ministry Gala for War Orphans. He knew from bitter experience that it was better to hear it from him rather than the gossip mongers at the _Prophet._

Now, sitting on the couch in Ron and Hermione’s sitting room, Harry and Ron were having firewhiskies while they talked and Hermione finished cleaning up the kitchen from dinner.

“ _Yes_ ,” Harry said in exasperation. He was getting tired of repeating himself because Ron just couldn’t get over the fact that Harry could be friends with Draco. “Look, Ron, he's changed since school and the war. We all have if I’m honest. And you know as well as I do that he never really had a choice when it came to being a Death Eater or anything. He was just trying to protect his family. Voldemort was _living in their house_ for fuck’s sake.” 

Ron tossed back his firewhisky in one go, a shudder running through his body as the drink burned down his throat before he spoke again. “I know that, Harry. But it’s still _Malfoy_ ! The same git that tormented and insulted us in school. He called Hermione a _mudblood_ ! How am I supposed to just forget all that? Hell I’m not even sure I can _forgive_ him for any of it.”

Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Look you guys don’t have to be around him yet if you don’t want to be, but please, don’t make me choose between my friendship with you and my friendship with him. I can’t do that. I just …” The lump that came into his throat stopped the words, choking him.

He closed his eyes. He couldn’t lose Ron and Hermione over this. He couldn’t. Not after everything with Ginny. Harry didn’t think he’d be able to handle it if it came to that. Letting out a breath he opened his eyes to see Ron looking at him, his blue eyes concerned and his expression chagrined. 

“Sorry Harry. You must know I’d never do that. I promised after .. I’d never do that … not again.” He trailed off as he stood, going to the liquor cabinet, pouring himself another firewhisky. 

Harry felt the tension melt away from him. He did know. Sometimes though, like now, the anxiety would crawl up and nearly consume him. Swallowing he nodded at Ron as he sat down next to him again. “I know. I just ..” he trailed off not knowing how to finish the sentence. 

Ron seemed to understand though because he simply said, “Yeah, I get it, mate.”

They fell quiet, each sipping their drinks with the fire crackling in the hearth, listening to the sounds of Hermione cleaning up in the kitchen. She, surprisingly, had taken the news of his new found friendship with Draco better than he’d expected. But then, she did work with him a little bit since they both worked in the Wizengamot Office. Hermione as a solicitor, Draco as a junior solicitor. He’d started out after his trial and house arrest were over, as a clerk in the office, mostly filing papers. He’d then worked his way into being a court clerk not even a year later. Now he’d gone from court clerk to junior solicitor. Draco had apparently studied a lot of both Wizarding law and Muggle law while on his house arrest.

Noise in the doorway to the sitting room drew their attention to Hermione as she came into the room, a tray laden with a steaming pot of tea, three mugs, and what smelled like treacle tart floating behind her. 

“Are you still on about Harry being friends with Draco? Honestly, Ron I don’t know why you’re making a big deal out of this. He has changed, I’ve seen it for myself remember? You would think we hadn’t fought a war five years ago,” Hermione said in exasperation. 

Ron looked like he wanted to say something but a quelling look from Hermione had him closing his mouth. 

Hermione settled the tray on the coffee table before taking a seat in one of the squashy armchairs that sat across from the couch. “He really is different, Ron. And he did apologize to me. I’ve told you that. He was very sincere. We’ve had several lovely chats when we’ve run across each other in the office. He is very knowledgeable about law. All that time spent studying during his house arrest really did pay off. And anyone he’s worked with so far has had no complaints. It took a while of course, but no one bats an eye anymore. They respect him now.”

As she spoke, Hermione fixed their mugs of tea and put slices of treacle tart on plates before sending them over to the boys with a flick of her wand. 

Taking the floating mug and setting it on the table next to him, Harry muttered a quiet, “Thanks, Hermione.” She gave him a small smile, knowing he was thanking her for not just the tea and tart. He really did love her, he was so very lucky she was one of his best friends. 

“Of course, Harry,” she told him with a look that said plainly, _What else would I do?_ He returned her smile with a slightly sheepish one. 

The three friends talked and laughed and joked as they drank their tea and ate their desert and Harry was filled with a warmth of wellbeing, happy to have his best friends after the last year and a half. And he was more than grateful that it seemed they had accepted his friendship with Draco. So if he wasn’t telling them that he might also be starting to have feelings other than friendship for the l blonde, then he could swallow the niggling guilt about it for now. He’d tell them only if something ever came of it. Which he hoped it would. 

And he hoped they would be just as accepting of it as they were of his friendship. He rather thought that Hermione would be, if the knowing looks she kept giving him were any indication. She truly was too perceptive for her own good. Of course he probably wasn’t being as conspicuous as he thought he was. He had rather passionately defended Draco more than once that evening whenever Ron brought up Draco’s past. Sighing, he drank the rest of his tea before setting down the empty mug and standing. 

“I should probably get going,” he said as he stretched the kinks out of his back from sitting for so long. “Robards is a bastard and scheduled an early morning progress meeting for tomorrow. About that big potion smuggling ring I told you about.”

“On a Sunday?” Ron asked incredulously, as he stood too, Hermione standing from her chair across from them.

Harry nodded, “Like I said, Robards is a bastard.” 

Harry exchanged a back slapping hug with Ron along with a “Good night, mate.” Turning to Hermione he let her wrap him in a warm hug, her curls tickling his nose a little.

“Don’t worry, Ron will come round. He just needs a bit of time to adjust to the idea. You know he won’t abandon you. Not again,” she whispered quietly. Harry felt a lump of emotion in his throat as he squeezed her a bit tighter. “I know,” he whispered. And again he thought of how immensely grateful he was to have her as a friend.

“Good night, Harry,” she told him as he let her go. 

“Good night, Hermione,” he said and then spun on his heel into space.


	2. Lovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two months ago, Harry told Ron and Hermione he had become friends with Draco Malfoy. Now, he and Draco have become more. And Harry knows he needs to tell his best friends about the change, but he can't seem to find the right time. Until Ron's head appears in his Floo early one morning and he sees Draco there. Now he has to explain. He just hopes it goes okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SO sorry it's taken me so long to get this up! I spent so much time and energy on 'First Pain, Then Healing' that I sort of forgot about this one. And I struggled a bit to write this after being in that headspace for so long. But it's here finally. I do have the next part of this series almost done and that should be up soon. Thank you all again for your patience, support, kudos, and comments. Hope you all are well out there in Quarantine Land. Stay safe everyone.

“Uhm, Harry? Why is Malfoy in your kitchen at nearly eight in the morning? And why is he wearing your pajamas?” Ronald Weasley asked from the kitchen floo early on a Thursday morning in early November. 

Without turning around to look, Harry sighed. He knew he should have told Ron and Hermione about Draco, especially since he’d spent the night a few times lately. They’d only been together for two months and part of Harry had wanted to just keep it as theirs forever, even though he knew that was both unrealistic and unfair. It didn’t stop him from wishing however.

He knew that his best friends (mostly Ron) had just started getting used to the idea of him being friends with Draco, so he was nervous about telling them that it was much more than friends now. He’d just sort of been putting it off until he found the right moment to tell them. Especially since it was still so new. Apparently that moment had found him instead in the form of Ron’s head in his Floo. Deciding he now needed to get this over with, Harry turned to face his best friend, a slightly sheepish expression on his face.

“Uhm, hi, Ron,” Harry managed awkwardly. 

“Hi, Harry,” Ron said, slowly. “You going to tell me why Malfoy is in your kitchen wearing your clothes? Or do I get to guess?” 

There was something in Ron’s voice that sparked a tingle of worry in Harry and he swallowed hard. Warm fingers slipped under his shirt and splayed themselves over his lower back, which thankfully Ron couldn’t see. Still, the contact helped to calm him. 

“He’s here, because well, I want him to be,” Harry answered finally, chewing on his lip. He watched Ron as he took that in.

“Okay,” he said slowly, “But why is he wearing your … clothes.” It seemed to dawn on him in that moment, if the look on his face was anything to go by. It was a sort of mixture of incredulity, shock, and a little bit of amusement. “Oh.  _ Oh _ .” 

Ron was quiet for several minutes, Harry watched him, waiting, hoping for the best. 

“So, you … you and Malfoy?” Ron finally managed. Harry nodded, daring not to speak. The warm fingers that rested on his back rubbed soothing circles into his skin, helping to ground him. Very quietly he heard “And the knut drops.” 

Ignoring the comment Harry nodded at Ron. “Yeah, me and Malfoy,” he answered.

“How long?” 

“Coming up on two months now.”

“Two months? So back … I mean .. were you … when? But why didn’t you tell us?” 

Heat crawled it’s way up Harry’s neck, staining his cheeks red. He shrugged uncomfortably. “I-I didn’t know how. You were just getting used to the idea of the two of us being friends, and well, I didn’t know how to tell you that it had gone beyond friendship. And no, when I told you we were friends, we were just friends. Draco didn’t ask me out until about two weeks after I had dinner at your place. And even then I wasn’t sure if there would be much to tell, but, well, it’s gotten more serious recently and I knew I had to tell you guys, but I just kept hoping I’d find the perfect moment to say ‘Hey Draco and I are dating now.’ Which, probably was just me putting it off because I was afraid of how you’d react. I just … I want you guys to be okay with this. Draco means a lot to me. And well, I just, I want you all to at least be civil. Maybe even get along.”

The hand at his back stilled for a moment before resuming it’s calming circle tracing. Harry tried not to read too much into that. When he looked back at Ron, he could see that his friend was a bit shell-shocked. The fact that he wasn’t exploding in anger and throwing accusations around was a good thing. Ron really had grown up in the years since Hogwarts and the war. They all had.

If Harry had to describe the look on Ron’s face he’d say it was more thoughtful than hostile. Finally, Ron let out a sigh and said, “I suppose I shouldn’t be that surprised. You two were always so intense. And the way you pretty much stalked him in sixth year. That should have been a clue right there.” He gave Harry a grin. “From hexes to shagging. What a love story,” he teased.

Harry let out a bark of laughter, relief coursing through his veins. If Ron was teasing him, then everything was okay. “Oh shut it, Ron. Fuck off.”

The redhead’s grin only grew wider and more mischievous. “But I’ve got so much material! So much fuel. Potty and the Ferret, a tale of hated enemies who realize their hatred is really just love in disguise! So beautiful!” Ron said, and then he pretended to swoon.

“Fuck off, Weasley,” Draco said, flipping Ron two fingers. Ron just laughed. “But it’s so  _ easy _ !”

Harry rolled his eyes, but he was so relieved that telling Ron had gone so much better than he thought, he couldn’t be too irritated with him. Although payback was fun.

Grinning himself now, Harry said, “Well it’s better than the tragic tale of Won-Won and Lav-Lav. Or is that a horror story?”

Ron made a gagging noise and then flipped his own two fingers at Harry. “Ha Ha. Very funny Harry. Fuck off,” he said, though there was no real bite to it.

It was Harry’s turn to flip Ron two fingers. “Was there a reason you were flooing me this early?” Harry asked his best friend. 

Ron pretended to think for a minute before saying, “Hermione wanted to know if you want to come to dinner tonight, I know it’s not your usual Saturday but you haven’t been busy lately and you know how Hermione is.” 

Harry did know. And he had a sneaking suspicion that she knew he and Draco were together. That girl really was too clever for her own good sometimes. Harry turned to look at Draco, to ask if he wanted to come or not, when Ron said, “And Malfoy is invited too, you know Hermione won’t mind.” 

Harry felt emotions clog his throat, appreciating and loving his best friends more than he thought he ever could and feeling so very lucky that they had stuck by him through everything. When he could speak he said, “Thanks, Ron.”

Turning to look at Draco again, he asked, “So you want to go over to Ron and Hermione’s on Friday? Have dinner? I have a feeling Ron will challenge you to a game of chess.” He ignored the snort from the fireplace, knowing his suspicion was confirmed. 

As he waited, he watched the gray eyes widen in surprise and a little bit of panic. His heart sank, Draco wasn’t going to come. It was too soon. Still, he held on to hope. He’d learned that sometimes what he thought Draco was going to do or say wasn’t what he actually did or said. 

Letting out a breath, Draco nodded once. “Yes, okay. We’ll go to the Weasley’s on Friday.” He turned towards the fireplace a smirk on his face. “And you will go down Weasley. I happen to be  _ very _ good at Wizards chess.”

Relief flooded through Harry. At Draco’s challenge he joined Ron in laughing. The smirk morphed to confusion. Then annoyance. “What is so funny?” he asked, the irritation evident in his tone. 

Ron got himself under control better than Harry and answered. “I’m also very good at Wizards chess. Ask Harry. Hell, ask most of our classmates in Gryffindor. Ask Hermione. We’ll just see who takes down who, Malfoy.” Ron grinned cheekily. 

Draco’s smirk returned, his eyes taking on the glint of challenge. “We’ll see, Weasley. We’ll see. Now, if you would excuse us, Harry and I have to get ready for work. See you on Friday.”

Smiling himself, Harry said his goodbyes to his best friend and when Ron’s head disappeared from the fireplace with a small ‘pop’, Harry turned to his lover. 

“That went rather better than I thought it would. I thought there would be more angry swearing and I imagined ... Well I imagined more yelling. And hexes. That he took it so well, and didn’t seem surprised, well that’s more than I could have asked for. I should probably thank Hermione for that, I’m sure she had something to do with it. I think she knows, I told you how she sort said without actually saying that she knew I had feelings for you. She doesn’t miss much.”

Draco gave a snort of laughter. “No, she really doesn’t. I’m not surprised, but then, Potter, you are ridiculously easy to read,” he teased.

Harry gave a two finger salute. Draco just smirked at him, making Harry laugh despite himself. Silence settled between them as they returned to their task of making breakfast before they both had to go to work. 

After a few moments, as Harry was waiting for his tea to steep, he turned to Draco again and asked, “Are you about Friday? I know you get on with Mione okay, but well, I know Ron is well, he’s Ron. I don’t want you to feel like you have to just for me.”

Draco turned from making his own tea to face Harry, gray eyes steady. “Yes, Harry, I’m sure. I wouldn’t have said yes if I wasn’t. If you and I are going to do this relationship thing, I realize that we are both going to have to attempt to get along with each other’s friends. Though, Granger is surprisingly easy to get along with. Weasley, well we’ll see how it goes. I do however promise to be civil to him no matter what.”

Relief flooded through Harry’s veins and he reached over and pulled Draco to him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “Thank you,” he whispered, grateful beyond words. 

Draco hummed, then smirked at him. “Of course, now you have to come with me for a meet up with Pansy and Blaise. After all, I’m going to dinner with  _ your _ friends.”

Harry rolled his eyes at his lover, “Yes Draco, I am aware. Whatever happens, I will be civil to them both,” he answered.

“Good, just so we’re clear,” Draco drawled. 

Harry rolled his eyes again and threw a tea towel at Draco’s head. 

The ensuing playful fight lasted long enough for them both to realize they were very close to being late for work. 


End file.
